Addicted to pornography? Desiring freedom but feeling alone? Looking for a new devotional? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this new and FREE resource is for you. This inspiring reading plan on Bible.com is for women that struggle with pornography and seek FREEDOM. God has created each of us with a desire for intimacy. We often seek to satisfy those feelings with fantasy and pornography that leave us feeling guilty, empty, worthless, and trapped in a vicious cycle. This cycle of sin robs us of the joy and freedom we were designed to live in. (more…)

With countless unanswered questions and tears in my eyes, I surrendered my life to Jesus. I still doubted that he could heal me, but I believed I needed a Savior. On my own, I would never find healing. My heart was a wreck and I needed Jesus to give me a new one.

Maybe you, just like me, often wonder, is healing even possible? How do I find healing? Could Jesus really heal me from the pain of sexual abuse? Let me share one important truth with you… (more…)

In high school I was a religious hypocrite, yet I had no idea how I was damaging the gospel. I grew up going to church, but the gospel I heard was you have to be a good and perfect Christian to get to heaven.

This was an impossible goal to reach. As hard as I tried, I could never be sinless. And so I lived in this cycle of addiction. I lived in bondage. I would try to be perfect, fail and turn back to sin.

The cycle went on and on.

Living in bondage was exhausting.

I was a religious Pharisee. I told people that I was a Christian and that I felt called to be a pastor, my church even let me preach on youth Sundays, yet I didn’t even know God. One day on the way to school, I was walking up from the parking lot with my boyfriend and he looked at me and said, “You’re a bad Christian.”

I had no idea what it meant to be a Christian. My church added to the gospel and because of this, I believed I needed to earn my salvation.

Maybe you, just like me, sometimes still think you have to be a good perfect Christian woman. Maybe you’ve lost sight of God’s grace. These desires actually make us slaves. We become slaves to our sin and lose our freedom. Why is it that we allow ourselves to be burdened again by slavery instead of living in the freedom that Christ has freely given?

You are I are living our lives like the Christians in Galatians.

In Galatians 5:1 Paul says “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”(more…)

The moment of temptation right before you sin happens in a matter of seconds. The enemy wants you to sin. He wants victory over your life. The good news is that God has promised us that no temptation is too big or too strong for us to conquer. In this post, I hope to provide practical tips and encouragement through Scripture to help you become more like Jesus, fight temptation, and experience freedom. (more…)

This summer, I packed up all my stuff in my Subaru Forester and traveled half way across the country from Tampa, Florida to Dallas, Texas. I left what I knew for the unknown. I left a community that truly loved and encouraged me every single day. The decision I was making did not make sense. Why would I leave my college community and church family to go to a city where I knew not one soul? (more…)

Have you ever experienced the back and forth change of setting physical boundaries in a dating relationship?

Maybe we should stop kissing for a while. It’s just too tempting to want to go further. Or let’s only kiss while standing. No kissing on the couch or leaning against the wall… well, anything is fine as long as we aren’t in a bed. Okay, it is settled — we can kiss anywhere, but not in your bed.

Days later… never mind, we shouldn’t kiss at all…just cuddling.

But cuddling is making it tempting to kiss you. So what if we kiss, but short kisses. Standing only. What if we just stop hanging out after a certain time? Let’s make a curfew. That will work.

Boundaries.

Welcome to the world of Christian dating — desiring to honor God and live a life of purity, but constantly fighting against the flesh.

I sat with a friend as she cried and poured out her heart, “How can I believe that God loves me and will meet my needs? I’ve been single for years. I want to be loved, accepted and valued by a man.”

My friend is not alone in her thoughts. Many young women struggle with singleness and trusting God during this life stage. I believe the root heart issue to my friend’s questions is trust. My friend is not trusting God to meet her needs and satisfy her longings. My friend is not trusting that God’s love is enough. My friend is not trusting that God loves her, accepts her and values her, more than any human man ever will.

How often do you feel like my friend? For me, I know those thoughts seep into my heart and mind almost every day. I’ve discovered that spending time with God, in His word, is the answer to most of our problems, especially our trust issues. I realized that the days I struggle trusting God most are the days I don’t spend time with him.

Do you trust in God’s plan for your life? Do you spend time with God on a regular basis through reading the Bible or praying? (more…)

There is no special formula to start believing in God. The Bible doesn’t say that if you pray five times and read the whole Bible, then you will believe in God. In fact, the Bible says that belief is not of your own doing. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,” Ephesians 2:8 ESV. God is the only one who can open your heart to believing in him.

If you are struggling to believe in God, take heart that even the disciples, Jesus’ close friends, sometimes struggled believing in him. After the disciples witnessed Jesus perform a miracle, they still did not believe he could perform another miracle.(more…)

Earlier this summer, I wrote a post 5 Action Steps to Guard Your Heart from Impurity. Each action step looked at the story of Joseph found in Genesis 39:7-12 and explained how to pursue purity. We know that it is easier to give into temptation than to fight against our desires, but Joseph showed us that it is possible to live a life of purity. In this post, we will read David’s story and learn how to bring God glory as we fight for purity. Then I will share additional scripture verses that explain God’s view on purity. I encourage you to pull out your Bible and read these passages as you hold God’s word in your hand. (more…)

3 weeks agoby joypedrowIn 2013, I went to the Passion conference. In 2018, I met Louie at DTS. Louie shared today, “Millennials are the best investment I’ve made with my life.” Amen. I hope I can say the same thing when I’m his age.